Ask any seasoned CrossFitter to tip out their gym bag and you'll find roughly the same collection of items: chalk, tape, a battered water bottle — and a pair of hand grips. Every single time. If you're still training without them, you're either very new, very stubborn, or you haven't yet experienced the particular misery of torn palms on a high-volume kipping day.
We asked around the community — box coaches, competitive athletes, weekend warriors — about the gear they genuinely can't train without. Hand grips came up again and again. Here's why they've become as standard as trainers in serious athletes' kits, and what to look for when you're choosing your first (or next) pair.
The Torn Palm Problem Nobody Talks About Enough
Ripped hands are almost a rite of passage in CrossFit. Pull-ups, toes-to-bar, muscle-ups, bar-facing burpees — any movement that has your hands cycling on a rig puts friction and load through the same small patches of skin, over and over. At low volumes it's manageable. Scale it up during a tough WOD or competition prep block, and you'll find yourself peeling skin off a bar mid-set and wondering where your grip went.
The problem isn't just the pain in the moment. A bad tear puts you out for days, sometimes a week or more, and there's nothing more frustrating than having to scale back gymnastics work because your hands haven't healed. Chalk helps up to a point, but it doesn't protect the skin itself. That's where grips come in — they create a barrier between your palm and the bar, reducing friction and preventing the shearing that causes tears in the first place.
Not All Grips Are the Same
This is where a lot of people go wrong. They buy the cheapest leather grips they can find, discover they don't fit properly or wear out after a month, and conclude that grips just aren't for them. In reality, the fit and material make an enormous difference.
The Mammal Hand Grips V3 have become a firm favourite in the UK CrossFit scene for a few reasons. The carbon texture gives excellent grip on the bar without the stiffness of some leather options, and the three-finger design covers the main contact points without restricting movement through the fingers. They're also surprisingly comfortable to break in — a lot of athletes report being able to use them properly from the first session rather than needing a long wear-in period.
Sizing matters too — if you're not sure where to start, Mammal's Hand Grips V3 Size Guide walks you through exactly how to measure up so you get the fit right first time. A grip that's too big will bunch and move around on the bar; too small and it'll dig in across the fingers.
Who Actually Uses Them?
The short answer: most people who train seriously. The slightly longer answer is that grips are particularly essential for a few types of athlete.
High-volume gymnastics workers. If your programming includes multiple sets of pull-ups, chest-to-bar, or bar muscle-ups across the week, protecting your hands isn't optional — it's maintenance. Tearing during a training block is a fast track to losing fitness you've spent weeks building.
Competition prep athletes. The last thing you want heading into a competition is compromised hands. Grips become especially important when you're pushing intensity and volume higher than normal in the weeks before an event.
Beginners building calluses. Counterintuitively, newer athletes often benefit most from grips. Their hands haven't had time to toughen up, and the combination of learning new movements and high repetition means they're at much higher risk of early tears. Starting with grips while the skin adapts is genuinely smart training.
If you're building out your kit more broadly, take a look at the full gymnastic hand grips range — there are options across different materials and coverage levels depending on what movements you're training most.
Pairing Your Grips With the Right Accessories
Most athletes who use grips also use Mammal Tape on the wrists to keep the grips secure and add a bit of extra wrist support during overhead movements. The combination is really standard at this point — tape on first, grips over the top, and you're good to go.
For anything involving heavy barbells alongside gymnastics — think thrusters, deadlifts, or clean complexes — a lot of athletes also reach for gym chalk even when wearing grips. Chalk on the grip surface itself can help during particularly sweaty sessions when the bar starts to feel slippery.
Worth Every Penny
A decent pair of grips is one of those investments that pays for itself quickly. One avoided tear means you're not losing a week of training, not taping up raw skin to get back on the bar, and not watching your gymnastics volume drop off right when you need it most.
If you're ready to stop training without them, the Hand Grips V3 Bundle is a great starting point — it includes everything you need to get going straight away. Or if you just want to see what's available, browse the full Mammal Strength gear range and see what else might be missing from your kit.
Your hands will thank you. Probably after the first session.
